4.0 Assessment

4.1 Mathematical game--in groups (mostly in class)--15%

Most of this activity will occur during class time on Sep. 23. Outside of class time you may need to collect materials for your game and review the part that you, individually, have in the preparation and/or teaching of this game.

There are 29 students in each of sections 10 and 20. I would like you to form groups of 3-4 (within each section) and locate/design/adapt a game that would be suitable to play outdoors (and possibly in the school gym and/or hallways) and which contains substantive and appropriate mathematics to the grade level you are planning the game for. This game could easily become a full lesson during your pre-internship, so plan for this game to take about 15-20 minutes. In school you would probably take more time to lead up to the game and then to debrief the game--which would probably adequately address a P.E. and/or a math "lesson."

We will have some 'sample' games to try out. There are many games that are suitable for playing outdoors. You probably already know lots of games from your younger years. We can 'copy' a game we know but we still have to thoughtfully consider the mathematics of the game and the appropriateness of that mathematics to the curriculum--and, of course, it has to be a fun game to engage in.


In your group of 3-4 I would like you to do the following:

  1. Give the game a name
  2. Write a short description of the purpose of game
  3. List the materials needed to play the game and where the game should be played
  4. Write out the rules for playing the game
  5. Describe the mathematics of the game and the grade level, math strand/topic curriculum link
  6. Gather the materials for the game
  7. Practice playing the game within your group
  8. Teach the rest of the class the game --on Sept 28. (you may have to shorten it for us as we will only have about one hour to play ALL of the games--we'll have about 7-8 games)
  9. You will derive feedback from others about your game, plus you will reflect on the game as a group; then you will write a summary reflection on your game and a plan for revising the game (doing it differently next time) and also include some adaptations for children with special needs
  10. Here you can write anything else that is noteworthy about your game design/implementation/reflection process
  11. One of you from each group will post the game (with all the relevant information needed such that anyone could play this game) into the WebCT assignment space. I will assess the game and then make it available to everyone in both sections.
  12. Each of you will then participate in an online asynchronous discussion about the benefit of games in mathematics--for learning mathematics.

You will be graded on the following:

A. Your individual contribution to the design and implementation of this game--5%

You will need to disclose to me in a written paragraph exactly what you have contributed to your group in both the design and implementation of the game; also document your contribution to the assessment and revision of the game. Give yourself a mark out of 5.

I will give you an individual mark out of 5 for your participation in the WebCT portion of the game discussion.

These two individual marks out of 5 will be added together and divided by 2 to get the average individual mark.


B. Your group presentation of the game--5%

As a group please discuss the design and implementation of your game, and give your group a mark out of 5.

You should also, as a group, design a short game evaluation questionnaire that you can give to 2-3 students to complete. Your colleagues can give you a mark out of 5, OR you can take their feedback into consideration and give it a mark.

I will assess the presentation of your game based on the following criteria: shared responsibility; engagement of audience; substantiveness of the mathematics; organization; creativity. I will give you a mark out of 5. These 3 marks out of 5 will be added together and divided by 3.


C. Your group write-up of the game--5%

I will assess the written portion of the game (posted on the WebCT Mathematical Game assignment space) for completeness of the criteria above (#1-6 and #9-10). This mark will be out of 5.


A. Individual contribution 5%

B. Group presentation 5%

C. Group write-up 5%